Teletype operator Jackie Maddox, 80, was honored for service by Sheriff Demings Thursday.

Orange County communications-center employee Jackie Maddox should be enjoying retirement, but instead the octogenarian has decided she would rather be at work.

For the past 23 years, Maddox has been an emergency dispatcher for the Orange County Sheriff's Office. She now works the 4 p.m. to 2 a.m. shift in the teletype division, entering stolen items and helping deputies on the streets.

"She's very sharp and very hard-working," said Maddox's supervisor, Cheryl Williams. "She's always here, always on time and really a pleasure to work with."

On Thursday, Sheriff Jerry Demings honored Maddox and the 170 others who work at the emergency-dispatch center as a nod to National Public Safety Telecommunicators Week.

In 2010 Orange County dispatchers answered more than 1.2 million calls, and nearly 600,000 of those were from 911, Demings said. The call center is the second busiest in the state, he said.

"We honor them because they are not the ones out there on the front lines … but they are doing good work," Demings said.

Co-workers gave Maddox a tiara to wear in honor of her special recognition.

"I can't get over it," Maddox said. "I'm just one of a bunch of people who are really great."

Maddox, who turns 81 next month, promised her children that she would retire this year. Her last day is expected to be Sept. 1.

"Hopefully, I'll be able to walk out of here," Maddox joked. "It's going to be hard."

She has become somewhat of a fixture at the communications center, and many look up to her as a mother or even as a grandmother, Williams said.